What are your thoughts on budgeting? Is it necessary? Is it helpful? Harmful? Does it make us focus on the wrong things? Is it irresponsible not to budget? We asked folks we admired to share their thoughts with us.

Joshua Lona | Photography and Videography Production Company Owner

We’re both natural savers but when the pandemic hit in March and we saw the effects of closures and things like social distancing impacting our wedding business we had to do some hard thinking about our personal finances. The fact is that as small business owners our income is never guaranteed, so we went all in on learning how to avoid financial hardship in the future. We were lucky that we had some safety nets in place when the pandemic hit but we realized as mid-twenty year olds that recessions can greatly impact our business. That led us to paying off all our personal debts in 2020. Luckily we only used cash in our business and never had to take our loans or business credit. We are now focusing on saving 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund and intend to spend below our means to ensure that we never jeopardize having to go into debt in the future or go out of business. Read more>>

Hope Taylor | Beauty Guide and Brighter Together Chapter Coordinator

I became involved with Limelife’s Brighter Together foundation. The primary focus of Brighter Together is financial empowerment. Through my training as the Houston area chapter coordinator, I have learned that financial empowerment is the cornerstone of female empowerment. My first chapter workshop focused on financial empowerment and I realized as we went into our second workshop that nearly every financial goal I set at our first workshop in October has already come to fruition. I do believe a lot of that success is due to manifesting as well as changing my mindset around finances. I also have a partner who keeps me grounded and on target with our financial goals. I now feel more comfortable talking about finances with my husband. He has created a safe space for me to be myself and work together on our financial goals. Read more>>

Danielle Davis | Financial Empowerment Strategist

As soon as this question was asked, I immediately got excited because learning how to use a budget in my early teens is what started me on a path towards financial freedom. I just didn’t know it at the time. To this day, I can honestly say that having the discipline to create and stick to a budget or spending plan as I sometimes like to call it, is what allowed my husband and I to pay off over six figures of debt in a relatively short period of time. Now, when it comes to lifestyle and spending decisions, my husband and I operate as a team in our decision making. The key to making this work is to over communicate. We talk often and when we don’t agree on a particular financial decision, we will typically just circle back. This way, we’ve both had time to think about it, and this strategy is what helps us to come up with a plan of action to move forward. Read more>>